Our Einhorn, Blau and Lemire report from City Hall:
Stephen Goldsmith, the city's Deputy Mayor of Operations and a former mayor of Indianapolis, is leaving city government after 15 controversial months to pursue a job in finance.
He will be replaced by Cas Holloway, the city's Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection.
Goldsmith was in Washington when he infamously tweeted "GOOD SNOW WORK" when the paralyzing blizzard descended on the city just after Christmas.
Critics blasted his seemingly unaware tone, claiming it stood in stark contrast to the images of unplowed streets and stranded ambulances across the five boroughs.
"He was brought here a year ago to reinvent government and the only thing he's put his stamp on is two snowstorms," said one high-ranking City Hall source.
Though Goldsmith's handling of the blizzard - and the allegedly pushy demeanor of some of his aides - rubbed some government insiders the wrong way, the deputy mayor defended his track record.
"I am proud of the work we have done over the last year to pass an aggressive budget," Goldsmith said in a statement, "and put in place the foundation and plans for dozens of initiatives and best practices that will dramatically further customer service and cost savings in the city."
Goldsmith, who also taught at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, was recruited by Bloomberg to help re-invent and streamline city government, but he often grew frustrated in dealing with collective bargaining and arcane contract rules.
Bloomberg said the city was "extraordinarily lucky" for his service, but not all of Goldsmith's decisions were popular or proved immediately effective.
He oversaw the demotion of dozens of sanitation supervisors - which may have affected the city's response to the blizzard - and struggled with fixing the city's scandal-scarred City Time and emergency communication programs.
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